DATE: Friday, September 19, 1997            TAG: 9709190845

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   89 lines

LONG-SOUGHT SOUTHEASTERN PARKWAY HITS NEW CURVE THE LATEST ROUTE HAS TAKEN IT THROUGH UPSCALE CHESAPEAKE COMMUNITY

The Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt, the Lazarus of local roads, has a history of running into walls in Chesapeake.

This time, however, the walls could be real - with families living behind them.

The latest alignment of the proposed $380 million road in southern Virginia Beach and Chesapeake goes right through Stillwater Farms, an upscale Chesapeake community, and would also run through a proposed park site.

As a result, city officials said Wednesday, the future of the highway - one of Virginia Beach's top five priorities - is now ``undetermined'' in Chesapeake.

The project, which has been delayed more than once by Chesapeake concerns, could be dead again here unless the alignment is changed.

No one would speak on the record about the latest snag. All Mayor William E. Ward would say Thursday is that the road is being researched and that no decision has been made by the council. Beach officials did not return phone calls Thursday.

Project design is scheduled to begin this fall, and right of way acquisition is scheduled to begin in September 1998. Construction is currently scheduled to be finished in 2004.

The road is expected to open up vast areas of southern Virginia Beach and Chesapeake to development while linking the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway east of Oceana Naval Air Station with the eastern end of the proposed Oak Grove Connector and the southern end of Interstate 464.

Chesapeake has always been a reluctant partner in the road. Twice before, the City Council has rejected the highway, saying it would have too great an impact on its citizens and that the city had higher road priorities.

But each time, Virginia Beach has managed to resurrect the road, finally coming close to getting Chesapeake's tentative support along with some strict guidelines.

The latest route and its impact on the neighborhood was discussed by the Chesapeake City Council in executive session Tuesday night.

Brent R. Nielson, director of planning, sat in on the session but refused to comment on the meeting or the road's future.

``It's being researched,'' he said.

According to a city staff memo released this month, the road's proposed alignment would run through Stillwater Farms, a 30-home community. Homes range in price from $140,000 to $150,000.

The community is located north of Kempsville Road and east of the Great Bridge Bypass off-ramp to Battlefield Boulevard.

The Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt is also shown passing through the middle of a 20-acre park site to be proffered to the city by developers of the proposed Transamerica property north of Elbow Road.

Chesapeake officials had been assured by Virginia Beach that the highway would have a minimal impact on homes in Chesapeake.

Chris M. Lloyd, the project manager for Michael Baker Jr. Inc., which is developing the plans, said Wednesday that the problems cited in the Chesapeake staff memo can be easily solved.

As for Stillwater Farms, Lloyd said detailed engineering would be needed before the full impact of the road is known. Even if the road is changed to minimize damage to homes, Lloyd said he couldn't be sure whether homes would be destroyed.

``I can't say at this time until we get to the design phase,'' he said.

The highway was expected to receive the blessing of the Chesapeake City Council in July after the council had twice voted against it over the past two years.

An agreement between the two cities had set strict guidelines about the road, its future, and Chesapeake's limited role in its construction.

The agreement was made after several meetings between Chesapeake Mayor Ward and Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf.

The road, viewed as a project being forced upon the city, has been a sticking point with the Chesapeake City Council.

In 1996, the council voted 5-3 to oppose the road, then known as the Southeastern Expressway.

Then-Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance Jr., who was running for re-election, sponsored the motion, saying he did not want the city to be caught off-guard by the road, which he and other councilmen feared could be built through Chesapeake without the city's permission.

Ward supported Nance's motion despite assurances from state transportation officials that the proposed expressway route would not pass through Chesapeake's Greenbrier section.

In 1994, also at Nance's urging, the Chesapeake council voted 7-2 to oppose the road for the same reasons. Ward and Councilman John W. Butt cast the dissenting votes.

The Southeastern Parkway and Greenbelt was believed dead after the 1994 vote. But after renaming and realigning the route, Virginia Beach sent it to the state's Commonwealth Transportation Board, which approved its current alignment. ILLUSTRATION: Map

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